Plum wine substitutes

The most likely thing to already be in a kitchen that cooks Japanese food, and with the lemon added it covers both halves of what plum wine does.

Best for

teriyaki-style glazes, marinades, sauces for pork and chicken, dressings, braises

Without the lemon this tastes flatly sweet, so do not skip it. Even with it, you lose the almond-and-apricot note that comes from the ume kernel, so a sauce made this way is cleaner and simpler. Rice vinegar can stand in for the lemon at the same amount if you want a more neutral sourness.

Sweet, fortified and slightly nutty, which lands surprisingly near umeshu's sweet-with-a-stone-fruit-edge profile.

Best for

glazes, pan sauces, braised pork, duck, poached fruit, desserts

Because these are fortified to around 18 to 20 percent, they are stronger than plum wine's 10 to 15 percent and taste more oxidised and caramelised. A pork glaze made with cream sherry reads richer and more roasted, less fresh and fruity. Cut the amount by a quarter if the recipe uses a lot.

A sweet white has both the sugar and the natural grape acidity, which is a better structural match than most people expect.

Best for

desserts, poached and roasted fruit, fish and chicken sauces, sorbets, marinades

Plum wine is considerably sweeter and thicker than most sweet whites, so a syrup or granita made with wine alone will taste thinner and less clingy. Adding a spoon of honey fixes the body as well as the sweetness.

Best where colour and depth are welcome rather than a problem, such as dark glazes and fruit desserts.

Best for

dark glazes, duck and pork, poached plums and pears, reductions, chocolate desserts

Port will stain the dish red-purple and brings dried-fruit and spice notes instead of tart green plum, so a marinade made with it tastes deeper and jammier. It also has more tannin, which gives a reduction a slightly drying grip that umeshu never has.

The alcohol-free version, and the one that gets closest to the actual fruit flavour rather than just the sweetness.

Best for

alcohol-free cooking, glazes, dipping sauces, marinades, stir-fry sauces

Warm it briefly and whisk smooth so the jam does not sit in lumps, and strain if it has large pieces of fruit. It is thicker than plum wine, so it will make a glaze cling faster and possibly scorch sooner. Umeboshi paste, thinned and sweetened, is another route if you want the genuine sour-plum tang, but use it sparingly because it is very salty.

A build-it-yourself option using bottles a Japanese or Chinese kitchen already keeps.

Best for

marinades, braises, sauces, savoury dishes

Sake gives a cleaner, more neutral result; Shaoxing pushes the dish nuttier, more savoury and browner in colour. Neither has the fruit character, so this is the option for savoury cooking rather than desserts, where the missing plum note would be obvious.